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Milner adamant that the path to victory lies in attack

James Milner has been speaking to the media ahead of Thursday’s night Europa League crunch match with Borussia Dortmund at Anfield.

The club’s vice-captain, who is certain to be handed a starting role at Anfield, firmly believes that our best hopes of reaching the semi-final lie in attacking Dortmund – despite a goalless draw being enough to send us through on away goals.

“We go out to win every game so that’s going to be the aim,” he said (via Echo).

“We want to keep it tight at the back, if we don’t concede we’re through, so that’s obviously a big plus for us.

“But we’ll be looking to win the game as well. The longer the game goes on, if they haven’t scored they’re going to have to come out, and that will open a few gaps for us to exploit.

He also spoke about the added bonus of what is sure to be a passionate Anfield crowd:

“European nights at Anfield are definitely right up there with anywhere on the planet,” he said.

“That’s going to be massively important for us no matter what happens. Even if the worst happens and they get an early goal, the fans can roar us on to get back into the game.

“We managed to nullify their fans and got a good result. Hopefully we can use our atmosphere.

“It can probably help us more than it can damage them. The fans are always brilliant and hopefully it’s another special European night.”

Victory over Dortmund would send us to our first European semi-final since 2010 and leave us two games from the final. Our likely opponents in the semis would be either Sevilla or Shakhtar Donetsk (both of whom lead 2-1 with two away goals), or one of Sparta Prague/Villareal (the Spaniards won their home leg 2-1).